Depth Chart Watch: Fallout From Week 15

Ah, fantasy football, that sweet, sweet, painful game. Sometimes you go 12-1 in the regular season with 75 more points than the next-best team, get your first-round bye, and then come out of it with Antonio Brown and Aaron Rodgers and Jamison Crowder all stepping on your championship dreams. I'm just speaking in generalities here, of course; it's not like this could happen to me. Okay, I'm going to cry in the corner now.

So it goes; this game humbles all. I can now only hope that you, dear readers, are still alive for the finals in Week 16 – and if your league plays in Week 17, drop what you're doing, call your commissioner and file a formal complaint. There's no excuse for that.

QUARTERBACK

Houston Texans

Despite the season-long terribleness of Brock Osweiler, the Texans somehow hold first place in the AFC South. Well, actually, it's not a total mystery. There's a reason they won in Week 15: the coaches finally lost patience with Osweiler after he started the game 6-for-11 with two picks, and they replaced him with Tom Savage, who led them to a comeback win over the Jags despite throwing no touchdown passes in his first NFL game since 2014. As you might imagine based on that outcome, Savage will be Houston's Week 16 starter against the Bengals.

Los Angeles Rams

Usually, suffering a concussion isn't an act of mercy, but it might be construed that way when you have to line up under center for the Rams, as Jared Goff does. After going 13-for-25 for 135 yards and getting sacked four times, Goff left the field due to just such an injury Thursday, with Case Keenum coming on in his place to finish off a three-point effort for the LA offense. Goff's in the day-to-day category heading into Week 16.

Miami Dolphins

With Ryan Tannehill (knee) out until at least Week 17, Matt Moore started against the Jets and managed to throw four touchdown passes on just 18 attempts, which basically tells you everything you need to know about playing the Jets. It won't be so easy for Moore in his likely starts against Buffalo in Week 16 or New England in Week 17.

New York Jets

Bryce Petty got wrecked in Saturday's game, causing him to depart the contest, and that brought Ryan Fitzpatrick back under center. Neither quarterback played well, so I'll leave their stats out here to ensure that you keep your lunch down. Petty supposedly has only a bruised chest, so I'd guess he'll be back out there next week, just in time to absorb an approximately 50-0 blowout at the hands of New England.

San Francisco 49ers

Despite the team getting slaughtered, Colin Kaepernick was good enough Sunday to hold onto his job. I don't think anyone's going to bother taking it from him as the 1-13 Niners play out the string for two more weeks.

RUNNING BACK

Atlanta Falcons

It's really cute how Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman take turns posting huge games. Well, Week 15 against the Niners was a Freeman week – 139 yards and three touchdowns will definitely get it done. For his part, Coleman turned in a solid backup effort, going for 58 yards on 14 carries.

Baltimore Ravens

Perhaps I spoke too soon about Kenneth Dixon staking his claim to this job, as we saw a triumphant reemergence by Terrance West on Sunday to the tune of 13 rushes for 77 yards, plus 45 more on four catches. Not to say Dixon didn't have value – he still averaged 4.0 YPC on his nine carries and scored a touchdown – but that usage still has to rate as a disappointment after it looked like he was mid-takeover last week.

Denver Broncos

Another week, another set of terrible results for Justin Forsett and Devontae Booker. I won't torture you by detailing their stats, but I will mention that Forsett got the slightly heavier end of the timeshare.

Detroit Lions

With Theo Riddick (wrist) unavailable again, Dwayne Washington got to start once more for Detroit, but he delivered a brutal effort against the Giants – just 40 total yards on 15 touches – as the Lions got totally shut down offensively. Zach Zenner served a primarily pass-catching role, grabbing four for 52 yards on five targets, but he also lost a fumble. Riddick didn't practice leading up to this game, so his prognosis remains unclear heading into Week 16.

Green Bay Packers

Ty Montgomery was officially elevated to the No. 1 role Sunday, and he responded by slashing the Bears for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 16 rushes. He did look a bit banged up toward the end, which may have been why Christine Michael ended up getting the opportunity that he turned into a 42-yard touchdown run (accounting for all but three of his 45 yards on the day). All this was made possible by James Starks' concussion mercifully giving the Packers' backfield some clarity. It's clear Montgomery is their best choice for carries, though.

Houston Texans

Lamar Miller "tweaked" his ankle in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game, but that's enough to make his status worth monitoring on a short week with the Texans next playing Saturday against Cincinnati. If he can't go, it'll be the Alfred Blue show (yikes).

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Chris Ivory-T.J. Yeldon Mutual-Destruction-of-Already-Minimal-Fantasy-Value Tour (CITJYMDAMFVT for short, of course) is in full swing! With Ivory back in the fold Sunday, the Jags again split the workload between him and Yeldon, who actually led the Jags in receiving with… 34 yards. Try to curb your enthusiasm about that if you can.

Minnesota Vikings

Adrian Peterson! Back! On the field! Whoops, sorry – that's three more exclamation marks than his performance warranted, as AP gained 23 total yards on seven touches and lost a fumble. Trailing throughout this game, the Vikes had Sam Bradford throw it 42 times against nine total rushes, which at least helped Jerick McKinnon owners in PPR formats – he caught nine balls for 59 yards to go with three carries for a dozen. Matt Asiata (ankle) played through a questionable designation, but only had a single touch as the No. 3 man.

New England Patriots

If you expected Dion Lewis to run the ball 18 times and catch it just twice Sunday, what can I say? You're Nostradamus. Lewis took just one more carry than LeGarrette Blount, but he outgained him on the ground by a 64-yard spread (95-31). However, Blount did save his fantasy owners with a touchdown. James White saw eight targets in his ongoing role as the primary receiving back, but he dropped a couple of very catchable passes, and ended up with just three grabs for 24 yards.

New York Jets

Matt Forte (knee) ended up getting into the Week 14 lineup, but he saw only 13 snaps, with Bilal Powell dominating the workload. Fantasy owners who started Powell were as well rewarded as you can expect from a guy who didn't score a touchdown, as he went for 84 yards on the ground as well as catching 11 passes for 78 yards. Considering the 31-year-old Forte is very much not the Jets' future and the 28-year-old Powell is only sort of not the Jets' future, the latter could easily see a workload edge over the remaining couple games.

Philadelphia Eagles

If you didn't start Ryan Mathews because you were afraid of the Baltimore run defense, congrats – we're in the same boat, and it's sprung a leak. Mathews busted the Ravens up for 128 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, and he ran in a two-point conversion to boot. Practice-squad promotion Byron Marshall served as his No. 2 with both Darren Sproles (concussion) and Wendell Smallwood (knee) injured. Smallwood's on IR, but Sproles is currently expected back for a Thursday tilt with the Giants this week. Kenjon Barner (hamstring), on the other hand, may be done for the season.

San Diego Chargers

Kenneth Farrow's takeover of Melvin Gordon's job didn't exactly go swimmingly – he managed just 39 yards on 15 carries (plus 14 on two catches) and lost a fumble. Ronnie Hillman was actually much more effective in limited work, going for 34 yards on just seven rushes. Gordon (hip/knee) sounds like he stands a good chance of getting back on the field in Week 16.

Tennessee Titans

DeMarco Murray's fantasy owners can't exactly complain about getting 89 rushing yards and another 52 through the air Sunday, but then again, maybe they can, as Derrick Henry got to score a pair of touchdowns from inside the five, while Murray didn't find pay dirt. Henry has enjoyed a significant spike in red-zone work over these last three weeks, even though Murray's still out-touching him significantly.

WIDE RECEIVER

Atlanta Falcons

Some guy you may have heard of named Julio Jones (toe) didn't suit up in Week 15, leaving Matt Ryan to distribute his passes elsewhere. The fantasy community was clearly on top of Taylor Gabriel, who led the Falcons in targets (six) and had a decent game with three grabs for 60 yards and a score, but folks weren't so up on Aldrick Robinson, who used a 59-yard gainer to end up with a total of 111 yards on four catches (five targets). Mohamed Sanu was firmly in third place with three grabs for 44 yards on three targets. Julio's doing what he can to get back in Week 16, but there's still uncertainty there.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cards ended up cutting Michael Floyd after his DUI arrest, so they went to battle in Week 15 with Larry Fitzgerald, J.J. Nelson and the ailing John Brown. Limited by his sickle-cell trait to just three catches over the prior five weeks, Brown shockingly led the Cardinals in receiving Sunday, catching five of his six targets for 81 yards and a touchdown. Nelson was the most heavily targeted of the trio, but he caught just five of the 11 balls sent his way for 38 yards, bailing his day out with a touchdown. Fitz was the worst of them, as his seven catches were the only nice part of his line – the yardage (57) was unimpressive, he didn't score a touchdown, and he lost a fumble to boot. This remains a funny, hard-to-predict situation from week to week.

Chicago Bears

Cameron Meredith returned to the 100-yard club Sunday, netting 104 on nine grabs (13 targets), but he had competition from Deonte Thompson, another newly emerged Bears wideout. Thompson was targeted 10 times of his own, reeling in eight for a team-high 110 yards. The returning Alshon Jeffery (suspension) stepped right back in, catching six of nine targets for 89 yards and a score. His return mainly affected Josh Bellamy, who saw only three targets, catching one (a 10-yard touchdown) – a pretty big drop from the 24 targets he'd received over the four games Jeffery missed.

Cincinnati Bengals

A.J. Green didn't make it back for Week 15, leaving Brandon LaFell as pretty much the only Bengals wideout you wanted to own – he caught seven of nine targets for 91 yards, while no other Cinci receiver at any position even cracked 20 yards. That includes Tyler Boyd's two catches for 13.

Cleveland Browns

Terrelle Pryor suffered a sprain as well as a torn ligament in a finger Sunday, but he reportedly expects to tough it out for the season's last two games. If he can't play through it or serves as more of a decoy to finish out the year, there figures to be an uptick in targets for Corey Coleman.

Indianapolis Colts

Donte Moncrief (hamstring) couldn't go in Week 15, but even though the Colts piled up 34 points, you didn't get a whole lot out of starting their receivers. T.Y. Hilton murdered his fantasy owners' playoff hopes with three catches on seven targets for 45 yards, while Phillip Dorsett turned his only target into a 50-yard touchdown.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs gave Tyreek Hill a carry that he turned into a 62-yard touchdown Sunday… and then they totally forgot about him, as he saw just three targets and ended up not touching the ball on offense again for the rest of the game. Jeremy Maclin was your Chiefs leader in all the receiving categories, netting six grabs for 82 yards on eight targets; the other wideouts combined for a total of 15 receiving yards.

New York Jets

Brandon Marshall led all Jets wideouts with 11 targets Saturday… and he caught exactly one for 16 yards. Yikes – how the mighty have fallen. Meanwhile, the much less heralded Robby Anderson delivered his third straight strong game, catching four balls for 80 yards and a score. Quincy Enunwa had a half-decent game, catching five of nine targets for 64 yards. Anderson is fringing on start-worthy; the others may as well be waiver bait at this point.

TIGHT END

Houston Texans

C.J. Fiedorowicz (concussion) was out Sunday, but Ryan Griffin did a solid impression in his place – he caught all eight of his targets for an 85-yard day. Fiedorowicz's return date remains unclear.

Pittsburgh Steelers

In the midst of delivering a solid bounce-back effort – 72 yards on five catches – Ladarius Green ended up suffering a fourth-quarter concussion Sunday, which throws his availability for Week 16 against Baltimore into serious doubt. Jesse James figures to return to a more featured offensive role if Green's out.

Washington Redskins

Jordan Reed (shoulder) suited up for the second consecutive week Monday night, but also he was targeted only once for the second consecutive week. Oh, and he got ejected for punching an opponent (who was wearing a helmet!) at the end of the third quarter, so that's nice. Meanwhile, Vernon Davis was horribly unproductive on his season-high nine targets, catching four for 23 yards.